The worst hatred is that of relatives.

— Tacitus

They have plundered the world, stripping naked the land in their hunger… they are driven by greed, if their enemy be rich; by ambition, if poor… They ravage, they slaughter, they seize by false pretenses, and all of this they hail as the construction of empire. And when in their wake nothing remains but a desert, they call that peace.

— Tacitus

Things forbidden have a secret charm.

— Tacitus

Those in supreme power always suspect and hate their next heir.

— Tacitus

To plunder, to slaughter, to steal, these things they misname empire; and where they make a wilderness, they call it peace.

— Tacitus

To show resentment at a reproach is to acknowledge that one may have deserved it.

— Tacitus

Truth is confirmed by inspection and delay falsehood by haste and uncertainty.

— Tacitus

Valor is of no service, chance rules all, and the bravest often fall by the hands of cowards.

— Tacitus

Viewed from a distance, everything is beautiful.

— Tacitus

When men are full of envy they disparage everything, whether it be good or bad.

— Tacitus